The Pirates came into this season with a new, much-ballyhooed set of veteranly veterans. The team had more talent than the three comedy troupes that Ben Cherington put together from 2020-22, and the veterans surely would help show the young guys how to play the game.
Or not. Somehow, this team is giving away more winnable games than the pathetic 2020-22 squads did. Far from playing a better brand of baseball, the Pirates for the last week and a half have barely looked like they were playing baseball at all.
Case in point: today’s loss 4-3 loss to Colorado.
The Pirates actually got a lead in this one, scoring three runs for the first time in ten games. Tucupita Marcano went deep, his first of the year, to open the scoring in the second. In the third, Andrew McCutchen followed a double by Bryan Reynolds with his seventh bomb.
And that was it. In six and two thirds innings against the Rockies’ bullpen, which ranks 20th in MLB in ERA, the Pirates amassed two hits and whiffed a dozen times.
Veteran Rich Hill wasn’t able to hold the lead. He sailed through three innings, but gave up a run in the fourth. Following the run, with two outs, he fumbled a routine comebacker, and that opened the door to two more runs, tying the game. Dauri Moreta finally got a strikeout to end the inning. In fact, he eventually retired six straight, fanning three.
The tie was as good as it was going to get for the Pirates’ helpless offense. They reached yet another of their countless low points in the sixth when they loaded the bases with nobody out. Connor Joe, showing great situational awareness, looked at a third strike. Then Rodolfo Castro lined softly to shallow center. Reynolds went for the plate and naturally was thrown out.
Of course, the buffoonery wouldn’t have been complete without a contribution from the manager. In the first game of the series, the Pirates had three-of-three base stealers thrown out by Elias Diaz. Nobody will ever accuse Shelton of giving up on failed strategies. He sent Connor Joe twice in this game, with the same result. One of those happened in front of Marcano’s homer.
Shelton had more strategery up his sleeve. He pinch hit for Jack Suwinski in the sixth and Marcano in the seventh. Miguel Andujar was the choice to replace Marcano. He went 0-for-2 in this game, making him 1-for-22 since his big doubleheader debut. Meanwhile, Shelton didn’t hit for veteran vapor-bats Chris Owings and Austin Hedges, by far the two worst hitters on the roster, until the ninth.
Robert Stephenson came on for the seventh and, with the help of two walks, the Rockies loaded the bases with nobody out. Not being the Pirates, they scored a run.
Which finally left things for a fitting end. Hitting for Owings with a man on and two outs in the ninth, Ji-Hwan Bae doubled, putting the tying and winning runs in scoring position. That left Josh Palacios to hit for Hedges. And he fanned.
